The Mysuru Zilla Panchayat has made it mandatory for candidates filing nominations for the gram panchayat poll to produce a certificate by their respective gram panchayat secretary that they have a toilet at home. The move seems to have had a positive effect with many of them getting toilets built in their backyards so that they can get a certificate from the GP secretary.
As many as 17,533 nominations for GP poll have been filed.
A few Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) told The Hindu on Friday that a few aspiring candidates got the toilet built hurriedly in their house using mud as sand was in short supply.
According to ZP Chief Executive Officer P.A. Gopal, 95 per cent of candidates who have filed their nominations have produced a certificate that they have toilets in their houses. The rest have submitted an affidavit which says that they will get a toilet constructed in their houses in the next six months. The ZP itself has resolved to construct 75,000 toilets across the district.
Mr. Gopal added that the ZP also insisted that candidates should produce the no-due certificate from their respective GP secretaries. This move has helped the gram panchayats raise their tax revenue. The GPs in all have managed to collect pending taxes totalling Rs. 50 lakh as many aspiring candidates had not paid taxes for several years.
The ZP has collected certificates saying that the candidate in question has a toilet at home, and a no-due certificate duly signed by the respective GP secretary
